Agitating mechanism in apparatus for treating material with liquid



Nov. 7, 1950 G. L. BLISS AGITATING MECHANISM IN APPARATUS FOR TREATING MATERIAL WITH LIQUID 3 Sheets-Sheet'l Filed Dec. 6, 1945 Nov. 7, 1950 G. 1.. BLISS 2,528,851

AGITATING MECHANISM IN APPARATUS FOR TREATING MATERIAL WITH LIQUID 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 6, 1945 650,265 1.54/55, nmaoxyflzzzw Nov. 7, 1950 G. BLISS 2,523,351

AGITATING MECHANISM IN APPARATUS FOR TREATING MATERIAL WITH LIQUID Filed Dec. 6; 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Nov. 7, 1950 AGITATING MECHANISM IN APPARATUS FOR TREATING MATERIAL WITH LIQUID George L. Bliss, Yardley, Pa., assignor to The American Steel and Wire Company of New Jersey, a corporation of New Jersey Application December 6, 1945, Serial No. 633,237

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for treating material with liquid in which the material is agitated in such liquid by being moved cyclically in a bath thereof. The invention is particularly concerned with a mechanism by which the material is moved in such manner within the bath.

The invention has among its objects the provision of an improved apparatus of a type in which material is treated by being agitated in the bath, wherein the material agitating means is of such type that synchronism of movement of the material and the liquid in the bath is avoided, whereby more efficient treatment of the material by the liquid is effected.

This and other objects of the invention will become more fully apparent in the following description.

The material agitating mechanism of the present invention is useful in a variety of applications wherein material is treated in a liquid bath, since the prevention of synchronism of vibration of the material and of the liquid insures complete scouring of the surfaces of the material by the bath and thus more uniform treatment over the entire surface of such material. The mechanism displays great advantages in the pickling of metallic roducts, such as coils of wire, and it is in connection with such pickling apparatus that the invention will be described.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Figure 1 is a view in plan of a pickling tank,

material supporting and agitating mechanism,

and driving means therefor;

Figure 2 is a view in end elevation of the apparatus shown in Figure 1, part of the end wall of the tank being broken through to show the coil supporting and agitating mechanism;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view in side elevation of a portion of the driving means for the material agitating mechanism, the portion shown including the driving cam, the cam follower, and the lower end of the lever driven by the cam;

and

Figure 5 is a similar view of the structure shown in Figure 4, the cam being displaced 180 from the position it has in Figure 4;

In the pickling of metal products, such as coils of wire, it has been the practice in the past to agitate the coils in the pickling bath so that theoretically at least the pickling medium had a all velocity through and past the coils in the pickling operation. Previous pickling apparatus, however, has caused the agitation to be in regular uninterrupted cycles so that eventually the pickling medium was forced into the same synchronized cycle as the material and there was thus no appreciable movement of the pickling medium with respect to the material. It can thus readily be seen that when such synchronism between the pickling medium and the material was obtained, the original purpose for agitating the'material was defeated.

In the present apparatus, synchronism between the material and the pickling medium is broken up so that there is an appreciable passage of the pickling medium through and around the material. Such object is accomplished by driving the means supporting the material in the bath in a cyclical manner, there being one or more periods of rest of the material supporting means with respect to the tank during each such cycle. During such period or periods of rest,

the pickling medium continues to move substantially in the manner in which it was driven, and thus there is substantial relative movemen between the material and the liquid. The apparatus shown in the drawings illustrates a preferred manner in which such intermittent driving of the material support is accomplished. In Figure 1 there is shown a pickling tank 2, which may be one of a series of which the material supports are driven by a common driving means, tank 2 being provided on the top thereof with rocker shaft bearing housings 4 supporting rocker shaft 6 in a horizontal position above the tank. Afiixed to the rocker shaft are two rocker arms 8, one at each end thereof, the upper end surface of each end of which is rounded as shown at l 0. A transverse coil carrier having a top cross bar l2 rests upon the surfaces ID of the opposite rocker arms so as to be reciprocated vertically in the guideways provided by the side guide boxes l4, each of which has a vertical end surface 16 to prevent appreciable longitudinal movement of bar l2, and side. surfaces 58, as shown. Insertion of the bar I2 into the guide boxes is facilitated by the provision of inclined end surfaces 20 and inclined opposite upper side surfaces 22 on suchboxes.

Coils of wire to be pickled, shown at 24, are supported on the lower coil carrying bar 26, which is attached to the top bar l2 through the medium of the two vertical frame members 28 and 30 to which bar 26 is attached by pins 32 and 34, one such pin such as34 being removable to allow the bar 26 to swing down and thus permit coils to be mounted on the bar 26 or removed therefrom.

Rocker shaft 6 is oscillated by means of vertical levers 36 pinned to the opposite ends thereof, levers 36 in turn being connected through clevises 38 to pitmans 4B which are connected, as shown in Figure 2, to the upper ends of the rocker drive levers 42. Such levers 42 are pinned to a horizontal rocker drive shaft 44, shaft 44 being oscillated by the power driven lever 46 affixed thereto.

The driving means for lever 46 consists of'a motor 56 connected to the gear reducer 54, to the output shaft of which is affixed the cam 48 shown in Figures 4 and 5. In the modification shown the cam is of the disk type having a double walled cam track in one face thereof in which runs the cam follower 52 afiixed to the lower end of lever 46. The inner wall of such cam track is designated B and the outer wall thereof is designated 60. The cam shown in Figures 4 and 5 is so designed that within each material agitating cycle there are provided two periods of rest of unequal duration. Whereas such design has been found to work very well, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited specifically thereto since the object of the invention will be accomplished'if but one period of rest of the material is provided in each cycle of movement of the material with respect to the bath.

In the cam shown, the portion of the cam track at the left of Figure 4 included between the lines A0 and BO and that at the right of the figure between the lines D -0 and C0 are con centric with the center 0 of the cam, so that when the cam follower 52 is within either of these regions, lever 46, and consequently the material supporting mechanism, is at rest with respect to the tank. In the specific design of the cam shown, the angle AOB is approximately 60, and the angle COD is approximately 120, so' that the material support dwells for a longer period when the cam follower is within the cam portion'included within the angle COD than when it is within the region included within the angle AOB. The remainder of the cam track consists of two similar connecting portions between the concentric portions of large and small radius, the upper connecting portion in Figure 4 consisting of a substantially circular track included between the lines B-O' and O'G, O

for oscillating said rocker arm in cycles and stopping movement of the rocker arm twice in each cycle for intervals of unequal duration, said mechanism including a rotatable power driven cam having two sectors concentric with the axis of rotation and of substantial but unequal arcuate length and two eccentric sectors joining said'concentric sectors and being of equal arcuate length, a cam follower in engagement with said cam, and a linkage operatively connecting said cam follower and said rocker arm, movement of said arm occupying a substantialpa-rt of the cycle.

2. In material treating apparatus of the class described, a tank adapted to contain liquid for treating material, a rocker arm supported above said tank for oscillatory movement about a horizontal axis, means for suspending material from said rocker arm into said tank, and mechanism for oscillating said rocker arm in cycles and stopping movement of said rocker arm twice in each cycle for intervals of unequal duration and thereby preventing the liquid from moving in synchronism with the material, said mechanism including a rotatable power driven cam having a doublewalled cam track with two sectors concentric with the axis, of rotation and of substantial but unequal arcuate length, and two eccentric sectors joining said concentric sectors and being of equal arcuate length and occupying a substantial part of the cam circumference, a cam follower riding in said cam track, and linkages operatively connecting said cam follower and said rocker arm, said rocker arm oscillating while said cam follower engages said eccentric sectors and stopping while said cam follower engages said concentric sectors. 5

3. A material treating apparatus comprising a tank adapted to contain liquid, a pair of rocker arms supported above said tank for oscillatory movement about a horizontal axis, means for suspending material from said rocker arms into said tank for treatment by liquid therein, a rotatable cam which has two concentric segments of unequal arcuate length and at least one of which is of substantial arcuate length and two eccentric segments of substantial length joining said con- 7 centric segments, drive means for rotating said being a point on line B-O substantially equidistant between the center of the camO and the point where the line cuts the outer wall 6!] of the cam track, and a substantially straight cam track between the lines OG and the line OC. The provision of the cam with at least two periods of dwell of unequal duration has been found further to assist the breaking up of synchronism between the material and the liquid, since it very -much lessens the chance that the material will cam, a cam follower riding on said cam segments, and a linkage connecting said cam follower and one of said rocker arms, said rocker arms oscillating as said cam follower rides on said eccentric cam segments and thereby alternately raisingand lowering material suspended therefrom, said rocker arms pausing as said cam follower rides on said concentric cam segments and the pauses being of unequal duration to'pre'vent movement of the material becoming synchronized with movement of liquid in said tank.

4. A material treating apparatus comprising a tank adapted to contain liquid, a pair of rocker arms supported above said tank for oscillatory movement about a horizontal axis, means for suspending material from said rocker arms into said tank for treatment by liquid therein, a rotatable cam which has a double walled track in its face, drive means for rotating said cam, a cam follower riding in said cam track, and a linkage connecting said cam follower and oneof said rocker arms, said cam track having two concentric segments of unequal arcuate length and at least one of which is of substantial arcuate length and two eccentric segments of substantial length joining said concentric segments, said rocker arms oscillating as said cam follower rides on said eccentric cam REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS i Name Date Collins Sept. 4, 1894 Lee Feb. 23, 1926 Kendall Aug. 30, 1927 Cook Jan. 17, 1928 Williams Nov. 12, 1929 Williams Dec. 3, 1929 Pedrazzo Nov. 8, 1932 

